This is an opinion column.

The next head coach of the Alabama football program should be, first of all, a grownup. He should be a proven winner who has demonstrated the ability to succeed in the biggest games in the toughest environments. Ideally, he should be someone who, given multiple opportunities, has found a way to get the better of the current Alabama head coach at least once.

For all those reasons and more, when Nick Saban decides to retire and the most coveted job in college football comes open, Lane Kiffin need not apply. He is clearly not ready for prime time, let alone the 24/7 responsibility of upholding the Bama Standard established by the greatest coach the sport has known.

Everyone, Kiffin included, thought Saturday was his best shot to beat Saban for the first time in five tries, which would have made a statement to the Alabama decision-makers who will choose Saban’s successor.

Instead no one should have been surprised by the final score of Alabama 24, Ole Miss 10. Kiffin being Kiffin meant winning the Internet during game week and getting ratioed on game day.

After averaging a sweet 52 points a game during a 3-0 start, then throwing a stink bomb into the Alabama defensive staff room by suggesting coordinator Kevin Steele had been demoted, Kiffin and company mustered one touchdown and one field goal. The 10 points matched the fewest points any of his teams has scored in the regular season in five years as an SEC head coach, four at Ole Miss and one at Tennessee.